1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to an embeddable air duct block, which is mounted in a block wall. More specifically, the present invention relates to an embeddable air duct block, which is permanently secured or laid within a concrete block or masonry wall during normal construction to provide an air duct in a security facility such as a jail, prison, juvenile detention center, psychiatric hospital, etc.
2. Background Information
Many buildings are currently being constructed of concrete blocks or the like to form a masonry block wall. Moreover, certain buildings and public facilities, such as jails, prisons, juvenile detention centers, and psychiatric hospitals, often require the interior walls to be constructed of concrete blocks. To maximize security, these types of facilities have wall constructions that often require the interiors of the blocks to have cement poured into the cavity or cavities of the wall blocks. These wall constructions also often require that the cavities have one or more reinforcing rods extending from the interior of the blocks into the concrete blocks that are above and below.
One recent improvement in concrete block walls has been the use of steel blocks, which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,649,391, issued to Harry R. Layne, on Jul. 22, 1997. This patent discloses a steel block, which is embedded into the concrete wall. This patent discloses welding the furniture or accessory to the wall. Moreover, this patent also teaches having fasteners formed on the steel block. However, this patent does not teach how to provide air ducts in concrete block walls.
In construction using concrete blocks, such as prison construction, ventilation is normally introduced into each room or cell via a ventilation or air duct that pierces the cell wall from the rear pipe chase. In construction of a new concrete block wall, the prior art requires the entire concrete block wall to be first constructed, and then the duct work is installed. The air duct openings are then formed in the concrete block wall by removing portions of the concrete block wall where air vents are desired. For an eight inch square air duct, this would require at least two concrete blocks to be cut from the wall to form an opening that will accommodate the duct work. This not only creates the problem of cutting concrete blocks in the concrete block wall, but also is quite involved in the patching process.
These conventional air ducts have sheet metal tubes that extend through the wall and with a perforated faceplate or vent panel that is fastened to the duct and the concrete block wall. The faceplate of the air duct often does not lie flush with the wall. Moreover, often an enlarged hole is made in the wall for mounting the air vent. This hole then has to be patched. Additionally, the air duct has a faceplate attached to the faceplate flanges that usually require caulking. The caulking around the faceplate flanges and/or the faceplate can later be removed by the prisoner. After removal of the caulking, the prisoner may be able to hide contraband around the air duct. Furthermore, such construction often requires cutting more than one block to create a sufficiently large opening for an air duct that provides adequate air flow.
It would be a benefit, therefore, to have an embeddable air duct block that could be used in connection with a wall that did not provide a gap between the wall and a mounting surface and that forms an integral part of the wall construction. It would also be desirable to have a method for mounting a fixture permanently to a concrete block wall that did not require degrading the wall structure by forming a cavity within the preexisting wall during installation of the fixture.
In view of the above, there exists a need for an air duct block which overcomes the above mentioned problems in the prior art. This invention addresses this need in the prior art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.
One object of the present invention is to provide an air duct block that is used to provide a permanent ventilation duct through a concrete block wall, a masonry wall or a pre-cast concrete wall.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an air duct block that will not require additional plastering or patching of the wall after installation.
A further object of the present invention is to provide and air duct block that eliminates the need for caulking around a duct opening.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide an air duct block that eliminates a place to hide contraband.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a steel vent or air duct block that will fit into the normal confines of the space occupied by one or more standard masonry blocks in either a horizontal position or vertical position to eliminate extra fitting by the mason as he installs the steel vent block.
The new air duct block in accordance with the present invention is designed to eliminate some of the problems that have been experienced by the construction industry. The air duct block of the present invention reduces the cost of installation and provides a permanently secured air duct block with a relatively simple construction. Preferably, the air duct block is the size of a pair of full size blocks laid vertically.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention an embeddable air duct block is provided that includes a tubular member, a first rectangular plate member and a second rectangular plate member. The tubular member has a first open end, a second open end and an interior passageway extending between the first and second open ends. The first rectangular plate member has a first inner surface coupled to the first open end of the tubular member, a first outer surface, a first length, a first width, and a first thickness. The first rectangular plate member has a plurality of holes in fluid communication with the interior passageway of the tubular member. The second rectangular plate member is spaced from said first rectangular plate member and is coupled to the tubular member. The second rectangular plate member has a second inner surface, a second outer surface, a second length equal to the first length, a second width equal to the first width, a second thickness, and a duct opening aligned with the interior passageway of the tubular member.
The tubular member has a transverse length smaller than the first and second lengths such that at least one cavity is formed on one side of the tubular member. Additionally, the tubular member has a transverse width smaller than the first and second widths. Furthermore, the tubular member is spaced in a lengthwise direction from opposite ends of the first and second rectangular members such that a first cavity is formed on a first side of the tubular member and a second cavity is formed on a second side of the tubular member. Thus, the first and second cavities are connected to each other above and below the tubular member.
Additionally, with the embeddable air duct block of this aspect of the present invention, the tubular member extends through the duct opening of the second rectangular plate member to form a duct attachment portion. A pair of spacer members are coupled between the first and second rectangular plate members. The spacer members are spaced from the first and second sides of the tubular member to form end peripheries of the first and second cavities. Furthermore, each of the spacer members is a plate-shaped member with a flange extending therefrom. The embeddable air duct block of the present invention is formed of metal.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method of forming an air duct in a concrete block wall is provided that includes the steps of constructing the concrete block wall with a plurality of concrete blocks coupled together by a cementing slurry, and installing and securing an air duct block into the concrete block wall with the cementing slurry. The air duct block basically includes a tubular member, a first rectangular plate member and a second rectangular plate member. The tubular member has a first open end, a second open end and an interior passageway extending between the first and second open ends. The first rectangular plate member has a first inner surface coupled to the first open end of the tubular member, a first outer surface, a first length, a first width, and a first thickness. The first rectangular plate member has a plurality of holes in fluid communication with the interior passageway of the tubular member. The second rectangular plate member is spaced from said first rectangular plate member and is coupled to the tubular member. The second rectangular plate member has a second inner surface, a second outer surface, a second length equal to the first length, a second width equal to the first width, a second thickness, and a duct opening aligned with the interior passageway of the tubular member.
The tubular member has a transverse length smaller than said first and second lengths such that a cement cavity is formed on one side of said tubular member. Cementing slurring is poured into the cavities of the concrete blocks of the wall and into the cement cavity of the air duct block. At least one reinforcing bar is inserted into a cavity of at least one of the concrete blocks and into the cavity of the air duct block.
The tubular member is spaced in a lengthwise direction from opposite ends of said first and second rectangular members such that a first cement cavity is formed on a first side of said tubular member and a second cement cavity is formed on a second side of said tubular member. The cementing slurring is poured into cavities of the concrete block wall and into the first and second cement cavities of the air duct block. The two reinforcing bars are inserted into a cavity or cavities of the concrete block wall and into the first and second cement cavities of the air duct block, respectively.
The air duct block includes a pair of spacer members spaced from the first and second sides of said tubular member and coupled between the first and second rectangular plate members. Thus, the spacer members form first and second peripheries of said first and second cement cavities to retain the cementing slurry within the air duct block. The tubular member has a transverse width smaller than the first and second widths such that the first and second cement cavities are connected to each other above and below the tubular member and the air duct block is formed of metal. Thus, the air duct block can be easily installed and fixedly secured within the block wall using the method of the present invention.
These and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses a preferred embodiment of the present invention.